Review in seanlclancy (RU)
«This project had a huge impact on my aesthetic and working method and I am so incredibly
privileged to have had the opportunity to work with such a class act as the Bozzini Quartet…»

What’s cooking in The Composer’s Kitchen?

Take the Bozzini Quartet, add six young
composers, season with two mentors and stir it all together in Montréal for a tantalising menu of
contemporary music-making.

Take the Bozzini Quartet, add six young composers, season with two
mentors and stir it all together in Montréal for a tantalising menu of contemporary
music-making.

The premise is simple enough: six young composers spend two weeks in April bouncing ideas off
each other, a couple of mentors and a string quartet, first in Montréal, then in Yorkshire. The end
goal is a showcase at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in November. Other groups run
other similarly intensive composition workshops, so what makes the Composer’s
Kitchen particularly worth writing about?

Probably it’s the ethos of the thing. Billed as ‘a combination of laboratory, playground and
masterclass’, the project is hosted annually by one of Montréal’s more industrious and open-minded
new music ensembles, the Bozzini Quartet. They’re clearly skilled
adjudicators, too, because the six composers (two Brits, four Canadians) selected from 60-odd
applicants turned out to be an unusually down-to-earth, musically diverse and genial bunch.

A few days into the Montréal week, composer and CK mentor Christopher
Fox confided his epiphany to this effect: ‘I used to teach at Darmstadt’s summer school
where students would soon enough kill each other if it meant they’d win the final prize,’ he said.
’Here there’s no hint of competition. Everyone’s piece gets showcased in the final concert, and
because they’re all coming from different musical backgrounds they seem happy to pitch in with
constructive feedback on each other’s work. Actually, they all seem to genuinely like each other.
Bloody brilliant.’ For his part, Fox’s ‘mentoring’ looked a hoot; more
reciprocal enthusiasm than teacher-to-student pronouncement.

Some of the composers turned up with pieces that were nearly finished and mostly needed
logistical help tweaking details of notation to make the parts playable. Thierry
Tidrow brought a score of dense and convoluted microtones that took the Bozzinis — some of the best sight-readers in the business — dozens of attempts to
navigate. They patiently explained the pros and cons of various common symbols, while Fox’s fellow mentor Malcolm Goldstein, veteran improviser of
the New York avant-garde, just shook his head. ‘Ultimately the composer’s responsibility is to
communicate his intentions with absolute clarity,’ he sighed, and pulled out a pile of Morton Feldman scores to demonstrate.

Other participants arrived with nothing more than words and the genesis of an idea, and it was
these who stirred up the real depths of debate as the week went on. What’s the point of writing
down music? Where does a composer’s obligation end? What potential can be drawn from raw open
strings and the harmonics of subtle tuning? John Lely produced a single
sheet of spare four-part chords, which the group tugged apart for hours. Lovely stuff.

Composers, mentors and Bozzinis members now have six months to gestate
before reuniting for Part II. Huddersfield’s director Graham McKenzie
cites the Composer’s Kitchen as a prime example of how the festival should
invest in incubating new work. I’m looking forward to the final results in November.

Composer’s Kitchen 2012

Such a problem (and its various solutions) only arises from the experience
of working through the piece, for which the Kitchen is an invaluable project.

As part of hcmf//’s exchange with Quatuor Bozzini’s Composer’s Kitchen, myself and five other composers spent a week in Montréal working
with the quartet, along with mentors Christopher Fox and Malcolm Goldstein.

Myself and John Lely arrived in Montréal a few days early to see the
quartet play in their salon series, a fascinating concert for string quartet and gamelan, and
another with the Bozzini’s alone playing a piece by previous Kitchen
participant Richard Glover and a hcmf//2011 commission by James Weeks, as well as new pieces by our two mentors, all beautifully performed. It
was especially interesting to hear Malcolm’s work as it was completely new to me at the time, and
shared many concerns with my own work — but this was also the tone for the week, every piece seemed
to connect in some way with what I was doing, this new piece I was writing flows out of my way of
musicking but was also developing from the environment of the Kitchen, soaking up ideas and
connections.

The Composers Kitchen began on Sunday for introductions and a run through
of the initial sketches. Each composer approached the Kitchen in their own way. Some arrived with
pieces that were almost completely written, and across the week the players drew out an infinity of
nuance and detail, prompting plenty of useful discussion as the works are questioned and refined.
Some arrived with only an idea, a few scraps of notation, directions, constraints, techniques,
etc., and the players responded with a wonderful willingness to experiment, fully engaged with the
exploration.

Myself, I arrived in Montréal with no score but some materials and text directions, a fuzzy
expression of a clear idea with two things that I wished to explore. The main idea was the inherent
non-linearity of sound production in strings when played very close to the bridge. Here the
harmonics can be unpredictable and change with the slightest variation in bowing, requiring a
virtuosity of touch that I’ve seen the Bozzini’s bring to performances of
Jurg Frey and others. The other idea was to center the interaction of the
players as much as possible on listening. To construct a score in the tradition of Christian Wolff and others where the players are cueing each other through sound, or
making decisions based on what they can hear from the group as a whole. In practice, this last
element proved most awkward and needed to be rethought as the week went on. When all the quartet
are playing high slow harmonics with no sharp attacks, it is almost impossible to know who is
playing what. While I was certainly after a high level of blending (a single sound across the
quartet) I hadn’t anticipated that it could also undermine the interaction of the players. Such a
problem (and its various solutions) only arises from the experience of working through the piece,
for which the Kitchen is an invaluable project.

We all work each day from 9-5, composers meeting in pairs or groups with mentors and performers.
Variations are tried, notations are queried, revised, and tried again, material is moved around,
replaced, re-examined and reinforced. In the evenings there is always excellent food and drinks,
especially at Casa Del Popolo.

During the week we alternate sessions with mentors with group rehearsals, and each morning
begins with a listening session with works drawn from the quartet’s repertoire. As the week goes on
there’s a shift from experimentation to consolidation, in preparation for the closing concert. The
quartet explained at the start that none of us should feel obliged to have a piece ready for the
end of the week, but no-one declined the offer of a concert rendition; I at least want an
opportunity to hear the piece in a public performance context, to see how the ideas hold up. In the
end, for my piece we settled on a single idea, only the players’ right-hand would be used, coaxing
out the natural harmonics of the strings using only the bow, varying its speed, pressure, and
position on the string. A rough structure and score is drawn up for the concert, and results in
performance exceed my expectations, but still the piece is not complete, more work needs to be done
on the structure and the interaction, but the technique at least is solid.

In November 2012 we all meet again in Huddersfield to rehearse and finalise the pieces for
performance at hcmf//.

Review

I’m just back from two fabulous weeks in Montréal where I was a
participant in the Bozzini Quartet’s Composer’s Kitchen…

I’m just back from two fabulous weeks in Montréal where I was a participant in the Bozzini Quartet’s Composer’s Kitchen alongside fellow composers Marielle Groven, Simon Martin and Amber
Priestley, as well as mentor composers Laurence Crane and
Michael Oesterle. We were all immensely fortunate to work extremely close
with the quartet and two incredibly brilliant and insightful mentors and for this I am very
grateful. Prior to Composer’s Kitchen, it was a great treat to hear some wonderful English,
Canadian and Norwegian music during the Bozzini Quartet’s Salon QB series
where they were joined by English Pianist Philip Thomas. These were
extremely refreshing concerts with superb performances, with particular highlights for me being
afforded the opportunity to hear live performances of Martin Arnold,
Laurence Crane, Bryn Harrison, Cassandra Miller, Michael Oesterle & my good friend
Howard Skempton. The sound of their music rang in my ears long after the
performances had finished.

We hit the ground running with the Composer’s Kitchen and it was incredible. Every day we
experimented, refined, rehearsed, discussed and experienced each other’s compositions, with the
quartet making every discernible effort to really get inside each of our pieces. Their utter
dedication to the music was palpable. This was matched by extremely sound comments and advice from
Laurence and Michael which really elevated the pieces. The final concert was a huge success and it
was such a warm experience hearing these four pieces really coming to life with expert performances
from the quartet.

It was an absolute pleasure and privilege to get to know my peer composers Marielle, Simon and
Amber and Mentors Laurence and Michael. A pleasure to hear their music, hear them talk about their
music and experience all their little eccentricities and how these filtered into their music. Their
music for me was an extension of their personality and it was so heart warming to hear this play
out. It was incredibly beautiful to hear their work develop over the week and how it was tweaked,
refined, rendered and given birth to in high-definition. For my own part, I was extremely delighted
with my own piece Neue Kraft Fühlend and believe it to be amongst the best
things I’ve written. It was also such an honour to work with a quartet so dedicated to our music
and so interested in bringing it to life. This was trumped only by their friendliness, hospitality,
generosity and genuine warmth, with each member of the quartet welcoming us into their families and
homes.

I really feel that this was an invaluable experience for my development as a composer and I
really feel that I have met some life long friends and co-conspirators. I was immensely sad to have
left everyone behind as we went our separate ways, but this was only leg I of our journey together.
We will meet again for Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival!

I want to thank the Bozzini Quartet (and Cléo
Palacio-Quintin for her hospitality!) for selecting me for participation in this scheme and
affording me the opportunity to work with them and to meet so many remarkable people.

Review

This project had a huge impact on my aesthetic and working method and I am
so incredibly privileged to have had the opportunity to work with such a class act as the
Bozzini Quartet…

Special mention must be given this year to my time spent with the Bozzini
Quartet. On two separate occasions, the first in Montreal and the second at the Huddersfield
Contemporary Music Festival, I had the great privilege of working with this amazing quartet as part
of their Composer’s Kitchen Project. Here I was a participant alongside fellow composers
Marielle Groven, Simon Martin and Amber Priestley, as well as mentor composers Laurence Crane
and Michael Oesterle. It was such a fantastic experience to get to know my
peer composers Marielle, Simon and Amber and Mentors Laurence and Michael on these two separate
occasions. A pleasure to hear their music, hear them talk about their music and experience all
their little eccentricities and how these filtered into their music. Their music for me was an
extension of their personality and it was so heart warming to hear this play out. It was incredibly
beautiful to hear their work develop over the two separate weeks and how it was tweaked, refined,
rendered and given birth to in high-definition. It was also an honour to work with a quartet so
dedicated to our music and so interested in bringing it to life. This was trumped only by their
friendliness, hospitality, generosity and genuine warmth. Moreover, it was extremely fruitful
getting to see this project through over two separate legs; hearing the pieces grow and becoming
more and more refined, developing a strong relationship with the performers and seeing an
incredibly polished object at the end of the project at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music
Festival. I don’t think I have ever witnessed a group working as hard over such an extended period
of time as the Bozzini Quartet. They performed my piece Neue Kraft Fühlend superbly, with the energy and delicacy that it deserves, balancing
light and darkness perfectly. I am immensely proud of this piece as I am with this collaboration.
This project had a huge impact on my aesthetic and working method and I am so incredibly privileged
to have had the opportunity to work with such a class act as the Bozzini
Quartet and I hope our creative paths cross again in the very near future.

Weaving dew patterns with Quatuor Bozzini

I believe that this is a great opportunity for any composer who wants to
become the best chef in their musical kitchen.

As a composer, I am exploring weaving patterns in order to transform them into musical language.
The use of non-musical data does not guarantee the successful transformation and mostly requires
deeper studies and research so that the chosen weaving pattern can be matched with sounding
material. For me the Composers’ Kitchen was a great laboratory in which to
nurture my initial idea, slowly transforming it into the final composition through the various
stages of this project; but let me start from the beginning.

It all started in Montréal, Canada with a meeting of the performers, Quatuor
Bozzini, mentors Christopher Fox (UK) and Christopher Butterfield (Canada), and fellow composers Georgia
Rodgers (UK), James O’Callaghan (Canada) and Kyle
Brenders (Canada). An intense two-week period involved rehearsals every day, revisions of
pieces, listening sessions, discussions, and individual meetings with the mentors. It was a great
opportunity to crystallize ideas in order to achieve the result that each of was looking for.

For me it was a long journey, because the first sketches I made did not resemble either the
primary idea nor the weave; they were too reliant on narration and illustration. But in Montréal I
was able to write this piece in “real time”, every day producing new sketches, which were then
rehearsed in various tempos, trying out different techniques, working on dynamics and details,
discussing the sounds that resulted from each sketch. Each rehearsal was recorded so that at the
end of the day it was possible to listen again and to create something ‘new’.

I felt that it was a luxury to work on one particular composition and to have so many
possibilities to try things, working out what could best suit my idea. After three different
versions and intense conversations with musicians and mentors, I finally found the right tools and
solution. I must admit that this period of searching was challenging, but the support from the
members of Quatuor Bozzini and mentors made me realise that with the best
team on your side it is possible to discover your true artistic individuality and perfect your
vision.

After each rehearsal of our own pieces, we could listen and gain experience from colleagues’
compositions, and how their ideas are developed, what kind of sound or timbre they are looking for.
At the end of this first stage each of us had created individual compositions, all very different
stylistically and aesthetically, and these were all performed in a concert in a loft space in
Montréal.

For the second stage we moved to Banchory, a small town in Scotland. This was probably a more
relaxed experience for me. I had had a five-month break from the piece, an ideal time to leave it
for a while, and after a discussion with Christopher Fox I was able to
make final revisions and complete the composition with fresh ears. This time, I knew in advance
what my piece was all about. Megh Malhar is based on the organza weave, a
weave whose structure is invisible because of its thin silk threads. It is striking for its sheer
surface and transparency, a feature which I felt united it with the harmony of the Indian raga.
During the second stage, I experimented with the final form of the music, refining the specific
character of the piece. It was a special time for me, cooking each day, meeting after rehearsals
and concert for dinner in one of the cottages where we stayed, walking in the forest, visiting
Aberdeen, sight-seeing, having informal conversations, being part of this family.

For me the Composers’ Kitchen was a great opportunity to concentrate on
one particular piece. I think that without this possibility, and especially such a close connection
with the professional performers of Quatuor Bozzini, mentors and
composers, I could not have created the piece which emerged as the final result. I believe that
this is a great opportunity for any composer who wants to become the best chef in their musical
kitchen.

Creating a new work with Quatuor Bozzini

Our Artistic Associate Kyle Brenders recently spent a week in Montreal, participating in
Quatuor Bozzini's Composer's Kitchen. He wrote a blog post for us about his experience, and how he
composes.

Beyond what I do here at Soundstreams, I attempt to have a life as a practicing composer (and
performer, but that’s a story for another blog post). I am constantly searching to find a balance
between my own artistic practice, and that which I’m working to put on stage at Soundstreams. Some
might say that my work as a creative musician is my second job, because I do it after I get home
from Soundstreams. But I sometimes feel that Soundstreams is my second job, there to support my
habit as a musician! All kidding aside, I recently participated in an emerging composer workshop—a
departure from being the workshop designer, which is part of what I do at Soundstreams.

I created a new work for string quartet as part of the Quatuor Bozzini's Composer's Kitchen. The
Composer's Kitchen is an annual musical “laboratory” conceived as an artistic "playground,” where
composers workshop their new composition with direct support from the Quartet, as well as two
composer mentors. The Composer’s Kitchen happens in three stages:

1) A workshop in Montreal and performance of the new work;

2) A few months of private revisions;

3) Another workshop in London, UK, and concert of the final works.

The workshop had four participants that were selected through an application process: two
composers from Canada and two from the United Kingdom, supported by the amazing UK organization
Sound and Music (you can read about the other participants here). The two mentor composers were
Christopher Butterfield from Victoria, BC, and Christopher Fox from London, UK.

This workshop reminded me of how intense the process of creating a new work really is. In my own
compositional practice, I know I’ll be performing much of the music that I write. Because of this,
I tend to leave a lot of musical information out of the score. Dynamics, articulation, bar-lines,
time signatures, instructions for improvisation, and sometimes even the duration of notes, are
aspects of the score that I leave out, and figure out either in real-time during the performance,
or through the rehearsal process.

I wasn’t going to be performing this new work, so I needed to create something clear and
precise. However, I don’t believe in creating a score, handing it over, and expecting the piece to
be performed directly as it appears on the page. I love openness, which requires the performers to
make their own decisions. I love facilitating surprises for the performers as they play the music,
and also for me as the composer of the work. This can create complications when working with
musicians used to scores that have the composer’s instructions clearly written on the page. I knew
this would a challenge going into this workshop, but I also knew that the members of Quatuor
Bozzini would be game for anything.

I had a breakthrough on my piece when another workshop composer mentioned that she views the
compositional process as “creating an article of clothing”—composers have to put the pieces of
thread together for the performers. I am slightly different in my work—I provide the performers
with the buttons and thread, but they have to create the shirt. The materials I provide the
performers with create specific musical events, but how each event progresses through time will be
determined in each performance. This idea is also where my piece got its name: sewn.

You can see a section of the score below and listen to how it’s all put together. There is a
main set of materials that begin the section, and then each player is free to move through their
own musical materials. Each player receives only their subsections, separate from the other four
players.

My music has a quirkiness that I encourage. I recently played with Bobby McFerrin at Roy Thomson
Hall, and one thing he stressed was that everyone needs a level of quirkiness in their everyday,
and suggested 10%. I think I’m there with this piece. The Quartet really explored the material with
curiosity and wit. But remember, this is only one performance, and one way through the material.
Each time the Quartet performed my piece, they created a new version. My music isn’t about
capturing a final, flawless performance, but capturing the moment the musicians are presently
in.

Another amazing aspect of this workshop was collaborating with the other participants. They each
created incredible pieces that inspired me to work harder (you can hear one of them here). Seeing
another composer’s music being work-shopped is one of the joys of this process. I love watching how
people put music together, hearing them describe what they’re doing, and seeing how the performers
respond. It’s this joy of creation that made me first want to make music, and continues to drive me
every day. Luckily, this workshop has a second stage, where we all come together again. I’ll write
again in February after the third stage of the workshop, which will include a performance of the
work in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Embedded: Composers Kitchen 2015

Par Georgia Rodgers

In June I took part in the Quatuor Bozzini’s Composers Kitchen workshop
in Montreal. What a wonderful experience, and what luxury to have so much time with QB. I can’t
thank them all enough for their help, patience and encouragement.

It was great to get to know each of the four composers (Egidija
Medeksaite, Kyle Brenders, James
O’Callaghan and myself) and two mentors (Christopher Fox and
Christopher Butterfield) who provided invaluable advice. It was a
privilege and an illuminating experience to be in the room while each of the (entirely different)
new pieces took shape.

I wrote a new work called Three pieces for string quartet which, as the name suggests, comes in
three movements each of which focuses on a different aspect of the instruments’ sound: noise/pitch,
resonance, friction. There’s a recording below.

Thank you so much to Sound and Music for enabling me to take part in this project.